What shapes teenagers’ intention to become entrepreneurs?

What is it about?

This study explores why some adolescents see entrepreneurship as a future career while others are more inclined toward employment. We focus particularly on psychological capital—the combination of hope, self-efficacy, resilience, and optimism—and examine how these psychological resources interact with gender, academic performance, having entrepreneurial parents, and school location. Rather than assuming that one factor determines entrepreneurial intention, we identify different combinations of personal and contextual conditions that are associated with adolescents’ career intentions.

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Photo by Tim Mossholder on Unsplash

Photo by Tim Mossholder on Unsplash

Why is it important?

Adolescence is a critical period in which young people begin to form their occupational identity and think seriously about their future careers. Our findings show that there is no single profile of a young person who intends to become an entrepreneur. Different combinations of psychological and contextual resources can lead to similarly high entrepreneurial intention. Psychological capital plays an important role, but its individual elements can sometimes be complemented or substituted by factors such as academic performance or entrepreneurial parents. This suggests that entrepreneurship education should move beyond a one-size-fits-all approach and provide different forms of support for different student profiles.

Perspectives